National Bank: No plans to curb exchange rate

The Belarusian ruble will go on falling if demand for currency continues to exceed supply.

The statement was made by Nadzeya Yermakova, the chairperson of the Board of the National Bank during an online conference on BelTA website on September 18.

Dollar exchange rate at the end of the year

Answering the question about the exchange rate at the end of the year, Nadzeya Yermakova said: “It would be wrong to speak about any exact figures on a particular date in conditions of the floating Belarusian ruble. We can only estimate the possible currency movements taking into account the factors that influence demand and supply of the foreign currency in the exchange market.”

“The weakening of the Belarusian ruble that we are observing now is caused by the excess of demand over supply due to the situation in foreign trade and changes in behavior of the population,” she said.

“The further currency movements will depend on development of the macroeconomic situation in the country. The Belarusian ruble will go on falling if demand for the foreign currency continues to exceed supply – the National Bank will not curb the exchange rate.

“The National Bank has taken a number of measures, including an increase in interest rates, to stop the current tendencies,” Nadzeya Yermakova reminds.

Speaking about denomination plans, Nadezhda Yermakova remarked: “I cannot say yet whether you should expect denomination or not but we are coming to the conclusion that we should go ahead with it. It is necessary to determine when we should do it”.

“In the past we thought that inflation will be going down and next year we will have a period to go ahead with denomination. Unfortunately, other factors on the currency market deter our decision for now, therefore, I cannot promise a definite denomination in 2014,” said the NBRB head. “We are going to make calculations, looking for ways. Specialists will determine when the time is right to avoid affecting devaluation and inflation too much”.

“With a high degree of probability I can say that the National Bank will have to keep the refinancing rate higher than the major monetary management guidelines for 2013 specify,” said the NBRB head while speaking about forecasts for the year end.